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Tag: #fomo #marketing #socialmedia

That’s right…sometime last year this funny sounding acronym was dropped in between a conversation by a friend along with a facial expression that read “i’m judging you if you don’t know it already”. Under the desk my fingers quickly tippy-typed what i think i had heard…fommo, f.o.m.o, fomo? and there it was…

Oh! you mean the brief anxiety that i just experienced for missing out a trending word that made me feel like a dinosaur…a species long extinct from the face of earth?! True.

P.S : with all this running in my mind, i barely heard another word my friend said after that. so i’ll tag this one as a #confession 😉

FOMO is for real! For most of us this fear is triggered by social media posts, tags and notifications that don’t include us. The thought of missing out on the plenitude that is happening out there, the fun, entertainment, experience, selfies and gossips that is now second hand information on someone else’s timeline…is atrocious. But good news, FOMO can actually act as a bait for marketing your brand or product especially if your target group is the millennials. There’s no doubting the fact that psychology plays a big role in making successful campaigns and FOMO is one such psychological strategies that companies adapt in their social media campaigns to make their products/offerings irresistible.

Here are 5 ways to use FOMO in Marketing:

#1 Promote Experience NOT Product

This time of the year Halloween is everywhere right from coffee flavor to home decor. Riding the experience of this scary night to promote discounts on costume is marketing done right. This ad by Shein is promoting the scariness of the costumes along with the savings that you will make shopping with them. People fear missing the experience that comes along with buying the product or service and therefore luring them through a promising experience is the key to receiving their positive response.

#2 Sense of Urgency

Creating a sense of urgency, as shown in the examples above, is not new is marketing. in fact it is a hackneyed tactic because it works! enticing the consumers by highlighting that a product they like might be running out soon, or is available at a special price just this day or even hour kindles their FOMO for obvious reasons. Attaching a limited period timeline makes the consumers give in to this fear and act faster in making the purchase.

#3 Play the Exclusivity Card

Exclusive offerings are a concoction of gestures solely meant to make your selective customers feel special. And if you’ve got it you certainly do not want to miss it! making exclusive offerings that draws a line between mundane and privileged evokes the same fear of missing out (FOMO) the bounty in store that only selected few can have access to. It adds an aspirational edge to it and makes your target audience act instantly. companies use this tactic to create loyalty groups, memberships cards and clubs for consumers to engage into more than just buying.

#4 Plant the Thought of FOMO

Not all brands are relevant to consumers’ FOMO in an obvious manner. Tuborg in their ad above are associating their product to an outcome of socializing (an experience) that has the missing out factor to it. Well a beer bottle can be very well enjoyed indoor in solitude while eating take out food and does not necessarily need a pub environment to get the desired outcome. But you see consumers will not fear missing staying home alone with your product and they might not know it as well. Hence, associating your brand to an experience and planting the FOMO in the consumers’ mind is another way to do it right.

#5 Notification Knocking

Unless you are Apple, you’ll need more than one announcement to create the FOMO you are looking for. Email marketing and push notifications are the best way to constantly remind the consumers on what is happening. Making other consumers share their experience on social media also acts as the stimulus for the remaining to join the bandwagon. A well articulated sales report, page visits, shares along with a timer not only shows the impact generated but fiddles with the psychology of the consumers who have yet not participated.

While playing with someone’s fear is a mean thing to do, my justification is that the word “fear” is an exaggeration here! so we are good 🙂 So next time do not shy away from incorporating these psychological baits in making your marketing campaign a success and bringing new customer on board.